Transition

Concentration of CO2 in the Atmosphere

October 25 Green Energy News

Notable:

Rick Piltz passed away. He was a prominent whistleblower during the George W. Bush administration, leaking internal documents, showing that the administration was actively obscuring climate science. A White House staffer later admitted to editing reports to downplay effects of climate change. [Scientific American]

World:

Marks & Spencer is building the UK’s largest array of rooftop solar panels on a distribution center. Spread across 900,000 sq ft with more than 24,000 photovoltaic panels, the system will generate nearly enough energy to power the distribution center which handles all the goods M&S sells via its online store. [HITC]

Iran is planning to produce 5,000 MW of electricity in the next five years using renewable energy sources, an Iranian official says. Due to its geographical and geological position, Iran enjoys enormous potentials for production renewable energies, including geothermal, solar and wind power. [News.Az]

ABB is working with Vestas to provide rural communities in developing countries with affordable clean electricity. The two companies have announced plans to jointly deliver power technology and system integration solutions for remote off-grid and microgrid communities. [SmartMeters]

Mainstream Renewable Power has reached full commercial operation at the 46-MW Oldman 2 wind project in Alberta. The Irish developer erected 20 Siemens 2.3-MW 101 turbines whose main components were manufactured in Kansas and Iowa. Oldman 2 is the third Alberta wind farm to come online this year. [reNews]

US:

The Ford Focus Electric 2015 edition is getting a significant price cut of about $6000, down to $29,995, according to recent reports – thus finally putting it on competitive terms with the market leader, the Nissan LEAF. This is actually the second price cut for the Ford Focus Electric, which debuted at $39,995 four years ago. [CleanTechnica]

The US Navy has committed to get half of its energy from renewable sources by the year 2020. It is looking to extract energy from tides, currents and waves to help with that goal, and has given the University of Washington an $8 million contract to develop marine renewable energy. [UW Today]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville today released a request for proposals for a 25 MW Combined Heat and Power (CHP) renewable energy project at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. The Redstone Arsenal project is a 30-year Power Purchase Agreement. [Greentech Media]

Xcel Energy Inc. said Friday that it has signed deals with three Minnesota energy developers to construct up to three giant fields of solar panels near the cities of North Branch, Marshall and Tracy by late 2016 to comply with a new state renewable energy mandate. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]